WELCOMING 2017 

DECEMBER 31, 2016 

NEW HOUSE

 + 

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Polignano a Mer, Italy

Matera, Italy

Alberobello's Trulli in Italy

Venice, Italy

=NO BLOGGING TIME

Happy New Year, dear readers...and what a year it's been- too many celebrity deaths, terrorist attacks, general world unrest and, to top it all off, the election of a frightening new president, Donald Trump. Of course, 2017 WILL be better!

For Michael and I, with the culmination of 9 months of planning, we finally moved into the house we built. Our days have been very busy since then...STILL unpacking and looking for pieces to fill new spaces while taking trips for a break! This kind of activity doesn't allow for much blogging time... so, with the start of 2017, I'm booting up the computer to make up for lost time.

Southern Italy was our go-to place to get away from unpacking and organizing. First, Michelle and I visited a very unusual area of southern Italy: starting in Martina Franca (in Puglia,) a memorable maze of winding alleys  where whitewashed simplicity  stood side by side with baroque extravagance. There were very few people who spoke English so we struggled with our bit of Italian. We found a small cafe where the young man who owned the place spoke a bit of English...he was our savior. Here's an idea of how Martina Franca appeared to us...

Leaving Martina Franca, we passed a very large grove of olive trees. They were so beautiful, gnarled and twisted as well as ancient, so we stopped to get a closer look...

We then continued on to Polignano a Mer, a small town on the Adriatic Sea whose local economy depends mostly on tourism, agriculture and fishing. Here we experienced some stunning beaches, aqua water, ancient buildings, labyrinthine alleyways and warm, friendly people!

Alberobello was a very unusual, small community in the TRULLO-dotted Valle d'Itria.  The trullo is a fascinating architectural feature of this area of Puglia, a building with conical roof made without mortar. Alberobello has an international status as it's designated a UNESCO world heritage site - because its collection of some 1,500 trulli in an urban environment is unique. Trulli have been around since the Bronze age and the symbols on the roofs have either religious or superstitious significance. Some of the trulli are now used for stores, restaurants, and lodging. But many are still inhabited by locals, who are very friendly to visitors. Interesting to note that most tourists of Alberobello are Italians.

 

Matera was the highlight of Michelle's and my journey. The site where Mel Gibson's PASSION of CHRIST was filmed, it is off the tourist's beaten path. Known as a subterranean city, Matera is  one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It's been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, it's made up of caves, both inhabited and empty. In fact, Michelle and I stayed in a cave. It was cozy, lit with candles, had heated floors and was actually very beautiful. 

In Matera you spend a lot of time in caves. You sleep in a cave, eat in a cave, drink an aperitivo in a cave, and even view modern sculpture in a cave. The ancient neighbourhoods, known as sassi, are a series of grottoes carved out of limestone, teetering on the edge of a ravine. It’s one of the most unique and spectacular places we’ve visited in Italy or anywhere in the world.

Until the 1950s, Matera was a source of shame for Italy, a place of poverty, malaria and high rates of infant mortality, where people lived in caves without electricity, running water or sewage. Carlo Levi’s book Christ Stopped at Eboli raised awareness of the desperate conditions people were living in and about half of the 30,000 population were moved to new homes in the modern part of the city between 1953 and 1968. No matter where you go, you must walk up or down many stone steps...not for the faint hearted!! But, definitely worth the effort.

 Home for a few weeks to continue to unpack and organize, then Michael and I took off for a short Christmas visit to Venice. Very few tourists during December. Temperatures were in the 40's (F) and there was no rain...perfect!! We never tire of the good food and beautiful sites. We noticed that things are more expensive than they were two years ago (when we were there around the same time...) and they're doing a great deal of refurbishing of old buildings as well as repurposing them. They cleared the insides of one building area to make it into a very high end department store...

The store has red escalators...and it's own SANTA!!!

Here are some more Venice photos...

Now, it's a new year filled with so many  possibilities. I welcome the challenges that 2017 will surely bring. I'm grateful for my family and friends... I'm grateful for YOU! Wishing you the best in 2017.

Looking forward to seeing you for my next blog posting...

Big Hugs,
abbyj

 

THE BIRTH

NOVEMBER 6, 2016

It started out as a minuscule whim with some investigating, followed by the abandonment of the whole idea. Then, overnight, that whim returned and in a matter of days, Michael and I were it hot pursuit of a desire that germinated from a tiny seed and blossomed over a span of 9 months. There were many hours of discomfort, minds and ideas in flux, research and planning for the future, introspection, deliberation, much  concentration and brooding that consumed all our time until finally, a little over a week ago, we gave birth...

We moved into our brand new home, designed for the way we live...and have progressed to the next phase of the process- the arduous process of unpacking more that 150 cardboard boxes of assorted sizes and placing their contents into appropriate places. Progress is slow, but that's okay. Perhaps now that we're IN, I'll remember to take some photos of the outside as well as inside of our home. Some new pieces will be added, some old let go. Looking forward to fixing it up so we love it...and to having time for some of my most favorite OTHER activities like blogging, art, and reading!!

This is my way of justifying being away from blogging for so long. Will be back soon. Meanwhile, we're truly around the corner and down the street from our last residence...same zip code, same phone number. 

Much love and many hugs to you all...
See you soon!!
abby j

ARTFUL READERS REVIEW 

"THE PARIS ARCHITECT" by Charles Belfoure 

September 23, 2016 

Hello Dear Ones,

I've been so negligent in keeping up my blog entries...I've missed the time to create some art for different challenges, but I DO keep reading. Building a new house takes lots of time, meetings and decisions but we're nearing the end...or should I say, a new beginning? I'm hoping you're all OK.

What an interesting and fast-moving book this is... Lucien is a young architect in 1942 Paris, France. He's struggling, along with so many others, during his city's Nazi occupation. His marriage is childless and crumbling, when into his life walks a wealthy French industrialist (who's sympathetic to the plight of the Jews.) He's got a profitable offer for this out-of-work architect who's anxious to advance his career. He commissions Lucien to build huge, important factories to help France with its war effort...(and help the German army as a byproduct!) Driven by his need to make a living as well as to prove himself a clever architect and gain a successful reputation, he additionally agrees to help the industrialist by designing expertly concealed hiding places in apartments for persecuted Jews... behind a painting in a wall, within a support column, inside a drainpipe, under some enclosed stairs...places invisible to the average eye. Some of these Jews are friends of the industrialist, some are not. Taking life-threatening risks, at first it was to challenge his design imagination and outwit the unrelenting Nazis. But after one of his hiding places fails, he becomes personally involved in the effort to do all he can to help these suffering, hunted people.

"THE PARIS ARCHITECT " is a powerful portrayal of a people under occupation. Many of the French people struggled to save themselves while others added saving the hunted to their personal struggle. There's much darkness in this book as in any book written about this horror-filled period of history, but Belfoure balances it with a sense of hope and salvation. If you're a fan of historical fiction, this book presents an unusual twist on a familiar WWII theme. Highly recommended!!

Wishing you the best days and a peaceful, happy heart...

Big Hugs,

abbyj

ARTFUL READERS CLUB 

"THE MAGIC STRINGS OF FRANKIE PRESTO" 

by Mitch Albom 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

REMEMBERING...

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I always feel like I’ve learned something about life when reading the books of Mitch Albom. THE MAGIC STRINGS of FRANKIE PRESTO was no exception. Albom has composed a beautiful symphony…magical, lyrical and soulful… about one man’s life and the people whom he touched. 

Our story opens as people are arriving for Frankie Presto’s funeral, a time to reflect on his life…a life narrated by Music…yes, Music. As mourners from all over the world file in, they stop to tell a favorite Presto vignette. Among these are people you’d know…Burt Bacharach, Hank Williams, the Everly Brothers, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, Tony Bennett, Paul Stanley of KISS and Wynton Marsalis (just to name a few.)

We’re witnesses to Frankie Presto’s birth, (when he was immediately orphaned,) and to his difficult growing up years. But, because of Music’s influence over his life, our hearts are warmed as he manages to overcome his hardships and make his way from Villarreal, Spain (his birthplace during the mid 1930’s Spanish Civil War ) to Detroit, New Orleans, Woodstock and other places around the world…he was a global success not only as a master guitar player but as a singer and composer!

This epic novel blends fable, parable, mystery, romance and fairy tale into one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. The entire book is a metaphor as to how music has the ability to heal. With the Spirit of Music as our guide, we glimpse into the lives that were changed by "the greatest guitar  player who ever lived..." the one man whose strings could touch the music… and the magic… in each of us.

BOOK REVIEW TIME 

AUGUST 7, 2016 

Although there's no longer an ARTFUL READERS CLUB, I continue the concept of read and illustrate. This month's review is by bestselling author, Daniel Silva. It's his 16th spellbinding, international sizzler in the Gabriel Allon series. THE BLACK WIDOW finds legendary secret Israeli intelligence operative, Gabriel Allon, grappling with an ISIS mastermind.

It's a tragically timely novel that's all the more unnerving because it mirrors current events. Allon, art restorer, spy and assassin is poised to become chief of Israel's secret intelligence service. But on the eve of his promotion, he's pulled into the field for one final operation. ISIS has detonated a massive bomb in the Marais district of Paris... reminiscent of the recent terror attacks in France and Belgium... and the anguished French government wants Gabriel and the Mossad to eliminate the man responsible before he can strike again. 

We're introduced to a new heroine, a doctor, whom we follow through both her spy training by Gabriel's team and then her jihadist training elsewhere. In  both cases, the process is fascinating, frightening and very believable. In THE BLACK WIDOW, Gabriel Allon's contributions to the mission are more cerebral than physical, since his days as an operative may be behind him as the new director of The Office. But there are reminders of his magnificent past victories throughout the book (for those that are new to the series.)

As THE BLACK WIDOW rockets from its shocking, horror-filled opening to its explosive conclusion in Washington D.C., we're reminded that the democracies of the world are faced with a mammoth crisis. Silva makes it clear...as we're on the edge of our seats and breathless...that it's impossible to protect everyone and every place from the assaults by suicide bombers who enthusiastically embrace a culture of death. 

Daniel Silva's background as a reporter in the Middle East, his encyclopedic knowledge of the history, geography and politics of that region, as well as its relations or non-relations with the rest of the world, gives every aspect of this book a sense of reality and authority. Destined to become one of Silva's most widely read works of fiction to date, I caution you not to start the book at bedtime as you WILL NOT be able to put it down until you've finished your journey!! This is an extraordinary read!!!!